I refer to your request, dated 3 January 2017 and actioned by the Department of Human Services (the department) FOI team on 14 February 2017, for access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) to the following documents:
'On the morning of 3 January 2017, Christian Porter noted in a radio interview that 276 complaints had been received relating to Centrelink debt notices.

Can you please provide the count of such complaints at 5pm AEDT on 3 January 2017'. Section 15AC extension of processing time

Due to technical issues experienced by the department’s electronic mailbox, your request did not come to the attention of the FOI team until 14 February 2017. The matter was then registered, allocated, and actioned. On receipt of your request, the FOI team considered processing your request under the FOI Act. Accordingly, the FOI team contacted the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and sought further time to process your request. The OAIC decided to grant us further time to process your request under section 15AC of the FOI Act.

Nevertheless, for the reasons detailed below, I consider that your request is not a valid request for access under the FOI Act. For this reason, the processing period for your request never began and the extension of time granted by the OAIC does not apply. Requests for statistical information

Section 12(1)(c) of the FOI Act provides that a person is not entitled to obtain access to a document that is available for purchase by the public in accordance with arrangements made by an agency.

The Department of Human Services has established a process through which statistical information can be requested. There are fees associated with this process.

Accordingly, you may like to send your request for the above data to [email address] for action.

The FOI team will take no further action in relation to this matter and the record will be closed.